May 2010 Archives

Here’s the perfect way to kick off summer: Get yourself invited to Debbie & Stu the Wine Genius Williams’ home for dinner. There is no lovelier place to be on a first-summer’s-blush evening, on the patio in their lush back yard, chatting with them as well as Sue & Louis Ainsworth, sipping incredible wine, eating…

My son is a big fettucine alfredo fan. Restaurant versions are terrifyingly caloric, unnecessarily soaked in cups of cream and cheese, some even enriched with egg yolks. I’ve come up with a not-so-over-the-top version for him that I actually prefer. I use real cream, but not too much. A little goes a long way. Nathan…

As I’ve complained before, it’s hard to find good salmon in Minnesota. I know, we’re in the middle of the country, about as far from any ocean as you can get in North America. It’s an unimportant problem. My not-terribly-local solution is that I buy wild salmon filets online from VitalChoice, the king salmon to…

Remember when I wrote about the mind-blowing experience I had at the Penny De Los Santos food photography workshop I attended in March? The reasons were many and varied, namely the San Francisco sunshine, Contigo’s gorgeous food, a hundred million great ideas from Penny, pushing way out of my comfort zone, and meeting three unbelievably…

Greek food and I had a shaky start, which is hard to imagine given how much I love it now. My first exposure to a fully-loaded gyro – hours into my freshman year, University of Wisconsin-Madison, with my just-met roommate – completely freaked me out. So much garlic, with yogurt on meat (wha?), and juices…

Eating intact grains – as Summer Tomato refers to them – is not the same as eating foods labeled as “whole grain.” Intact grains are just that, not ground into flour or broken into pieces. Filling and nutritious, intact grains are a whole food, as well as a healthy, busy cook’s best friend. Cook them…

I made my first trip of the season to the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market yesterday, total blast. I strolled around with a big grin on my face, happy to see such bounty so early in the season. I carried home garlic chives, pea shoots, asparagus, rhubarb, and a whole pound of freshly picked morel mushrooms. …

It’s going to be 90 sultry degrees here in Minneapolis on Sunday. Ugh. I’m not going to complain (is “ugh” a complaint?), but I’m not quite prepared for that level of heat and humidity. Guess I’ll just have to grab a cold beverage and head out to the grill…tough, I know. If you’re looking for…

I half ruined this whole barbecued chicken and it was still so provocatively delicious that John and I attacked it (and each other, get back!) like wolves. Snip, snap, gone. Wow, dudes, if you have not heeded my unpaid over-representation of the Weber poultry roaster (I have no relationship with Weber), heed it now. It…

These falling-off-the-bone ribs almost make themselves. Alongside crunchy slaw, they’ll make your Memorial Day barbecue! So, the countdown to Memorial Day continues… Last week, I suggested strawberry shortcakes for a post-barbecue dessert. This week, the barbecue’s main show: no-fail pork ribs for grill novices (and experts) alongside crunchy, tangy coleslaw. The ribs are a bit of a…